DOCSLIB.ORG

Article in Press

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Article in Press ECOLEC-03211; No of Pages 11 ARTICLE IN PRESS ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS XX (2008) XXX– XXX available at www.sciencedirect.com www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon Bridging ecological and social systems coevolution: A review and proposal Miguel A. Guala,⁎, Richard B. Norgaardb aDepartment of Economics, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Crtra. Utrera, Km 1, 41013, Sevilla, Spain bEnergy and Resources Program, 310 Barrows Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3050, United States ARTICLE DATA ABSTRACT Article history: Social and Natural sciences have, for the most part, ignored the existence of interlinked/ Received 25 March 2008 interdependent evolutionary processes between cultural and biotic systems, both Received in revised form 19 July 2008 embedded in an overall dynamic biophysical environment. In this paper, we explore the Accepted 23 July 2008 potential of filling this gap by further developing a common coevolutionary framework based on earlier work in ecological economics. Our main concern is to contribute to the understanding of socioecological coevolution in two ways: (1) to find a general framework Keywords: that accommodates advances in the explanation of sociocultural evolution in social Coevolution sciences and, (2) to identify the specific mechanisms that could link this knowledge to what Cultural evolution is known in the biological sciences. Biological evolution © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Systemic influence “… this traditional dichotomy of humanity-versus-nature equivalent of a Darwin nor a Mendel, however, the social is false and dangerous. On the one hand, it perpetuates our science literature on the coevolution of components of social destructive mishandling of the biosphere. On the other systems is noticeably less developed and far less cohesive hand, it scants the self-understanding that Homo sapiens than the biological literature. The social sciences have needs to settle down on our home planet, hence as a struggled with multiple, incompatible constructs. Neither prerequisite to survival. Nature, to put the matter as the biological nor social science literature, however, helps us succinctly as possible, is part of us, and we are part of understand how: (1) evolving sociocultural systems are nature.” E.O. Wilson (2007: xiii) increasingly affecting their biophysical environment nor (2) how evolving ecological systems are increasingly affecting sociocultural change. The challenge to understanding socio- 1. Introduction ecological coevolution is thus two fold: (1) to find a general framework that accommodates advances in the explanation Socioecological systems (Folke et al., 2005) can be thought of as of socio-cultural evolution in social sciences and, (2) to changing through coevolution between their social and identify the specific mechanisms that could link this knowl- ecological components (Norgaard, 1994). Yet, while this can edge to what is accepted in the biological sciences. be understood intuitively, theory and empirical analyses Evolution is a process of change over time and space. For remain undeveloped. There is a well-developed, cohesive living systems, Darwin (1859) characterized it as a matter of biological literature on the coevolution of species within descent with modification. In biology, the process of genetic ecological systems. Coevolution at other levels and scales is inheritance among individuals across generations driven by admittedly more controversial. With neither the social science natural selection has been emphasized. Here “natural” refers ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (M.A. Gual). 0921-8009/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.07.020 Please cite this article as: Gual, M.A., Norgaard, R.B., Bridging ecological and social systems coevolution: A review and proposal, Ecological Economics (2008), doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.07.020 ARTICLE IN PRESS 2 ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS XX (2008) XXX– XXX to the biophysical environment surrounding a particular generation to the next” (Pagel, 2002: 330). Some change occurs species. Biologists have traditionally focused on evolution in through random mutations and drift, some through differ- more or less undisturbed environments. There are two very ential migration of individuals, and some through what important reasons for this: (1) human culture did not come Darwin called natural selection. The distinction in evolution- into play until very recently and, (2) people have greatly ary biology between evolution and evolution by natural modified the environment and thereby the course of biological selection arose through the grand synthesis in mid 20th evolution. So, if the basic question — How did life evolve on century between biology and genetics (Mayr, 1982). earth? — is central, it follows that natural undisturbed One of the main problems within evolutionary biology is environments are a precious resource to answer that question agreeing on the plausibility and importance of selection at (Thompson, 1994). While restricting the “environment” to different levels. While evolution at the level of the individual “natural” systems helps biologists understand important organism is completely accepted and empirically documented evolutionary processes, it also blinds evolutionary biology to (though perhaps conflated with evolution at other levels), the increasingly relevant processes of evolution in the context arguments for evolution at other levels are more contentious, of human action. To understand our biological future, we need while the difficulties of empirically sorting out levels of to understand how human culture is affecting both, the course evolution is more difficult. The levels range from the gene and the laws of evolution. Of course, some biologists are (Dawkins, 1976), the group and the importance of social beginning to address this, but the overall effort is still very low. interactions (Wilson, 1998), and the species within geographi- In the social sciences, efforts to understand evolution cal landscapes or in macroevolutionary terms (Thompson, within cultural systems have been, and still are, a quite 2002; Gould, 2002). complicated inquiry. On top of this, bridging the gap between Coevolution has been largely characterized as a reciprocal the understanding of human evolution in a biological sense evolutionary process between interacting species driven by and human evolution in a cultural sense continues to be natural selection (Thompson, 2002). At its narrowest concep- difficult and to generate controversy. tion, it refers to the specific, reciprocal, simultaneous evo- As the evolution of cultural systems seems to accelerate its lution of traits between two closely related species. The destructive influence on our planet, there is a clear need to loosening of one or some of these requirements provides unveil the links between the units, the systems and the degrees of flexibility in the definition while confounding the processes of cultural and biological evolution. Knowledge of difficulties of empirically sorting out the processes. At a them could provide us with important — not to say vital — broader level, coevolution might be defined as diffuse coevolu- clues on how to change social institutions and technologies in tion, meaning the adaptation of species to multiple features of accordance with, not only more ecologically driven ethics, but their biotic and physical environment (Futuyma and Slatkin, the long term interest of our species. In summary, we urgently 1983). Coevolution is important because it links evolutionary need to understand the coevolutionary character of culture biology to ecology. It opens evolutionary theory to the and nature and incorporate it into our technology and social identification of more precise selective relationships among organization. This particular issue is at the heart of this paper. species in evolutionary explanations, however, it also opens Unfortunately, it is also at the core of most conflicts that our understanding of evolution to a rich interactive complex of divide the natural and social sciences. Thus, the main goal of processes that vary across landscapes, making distinctions this article is to propose an overarching coevolutionary between the selective processes more difficult. framework capable of both: (1) bridging the theoretical gaps Another dispute shaping modern evolutionary theory has between the biological and social sciences, and (2) contribut- been the need to explain punctuated equilibria and rapid ing to the understanding of the biophysical impacts of cultural change at the species level (Gould, 1992). This is interlinked systems through the study of the relevant units and forces with the distinction between Microevolution (as explained by operating between two on going coevolutionary processes: Darwin) and Macroevolution (compatible with Darwinian cultural evolution and biological evolution. evolution). Macroevolution ideas have widened a huge area We provide a short review of the major issues concerning of collaboration between evolutionary biology and other evolutionary theory in the biological and social sciences in physical sciences. This is of particular relevance because the Section 2. Then, in Section 3, we critically analyze the Darwinian theory of evolution is now being placed within the development of coevolutionary thought in ecological econom- context of new findings that improve our understanding of ics. In Section 4, we propose a basic common coevolutionary the relationship
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download Article (PDF)
    Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 124 International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH 2017) Information Ecology in Structuring Sociocultural Space of Modern Society Eleonora Barkova Department of History and Philosophy Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (PRUE) Stremyanny per., 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia E-mail: [email protected] Marina Ivleva Elena Agibalova Department of History and Philosophy Department of Foreign Languages № 3 Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (PRUE) Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (PRUE) Stremyanny per., 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia Stremyanny per., 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia Abstract—The article studies potential application of an living, for the ecosystem on all the levels were also identified. information ecology approach for the analysis of a V.A.Kutyrev was right to say that today “it’s important…to contemporary stage in the development of an information suggest some sort of a modus vivendi between realism and society. It is illustrated using the example of this approach modernism that reflects our natural, objective macro world utilized to study a social element – sociocultural space. The and post-modernism as, actually, the ideology of other, article analyses distinctive features of information ecology as a informative-virtual micro and mega worlds. Ecological modern philosophical approach based on holistic and problems that had been referred to nature not long ago, systematic principles which provides
    [Show full text]
  • Sociocultural Evolution
    Sociocultural Evolution By Dr. Frank Elwell Sociocultural Evolution Sociocultural materialism is an avowedly evolutionary perspective. Sociocultural Evolution “Anthropologists have long recognized that in Broadest perspective cultural evolution has three main characteristics: Escalating energy budgets, increased productivity and accelerating population growth.” --Marvin Harris Sociocultural Evolution Great transitions in human societies, transitions that involve a qualitative shift in the mode of production, are an outgrowth of the intensification process. Evolutionary Process: Intensification depletion and pollution Further intensification depletion and pollution Evolutionary Process: The whole process results in either the collapse of the system or a shift to a new mode of production where the process begins again. Intensification Throughout history, the intensification of the forces of production have always been toward greater complexity because the process leads to the exploitation of less available, harder to reach sources of energy. Intensification Similarly, when environmental depletion is reached, the qualitative shift in the forces of production represents a move from a readily available source (say wood) to a less accessible source (coal, oil or nuclear fission). Intensification Over the course of social evolution, mankind has had to engage in more and more complicated processing and production techniques in order to draw energy out of the environment. Intensification When societies increase productivity, food becomes more available, thus more children are born and survive infancy. Intensification Increases in food invariably increase population growth, thus bringing population level up to the new environmental limits. Evolutionary Process: This increasing complexity of the mode of production, as well as the relatively large population that this new technology is able to sustain, has impact of the structure of sociocultural systems.
    [Show full text]
  • A Computational Model of Memetic Evolution: Optimizing Collective Intelligence Noah Welsh Clemson University, [email protected]
    Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations 5-2014 A Computational Model of Memetic Evolution: Optimizing Collective Intelligence Noah Welsh Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Part of the Computer Sciences Commons, and the Educational Leadership Commons Recommended Citation Welsh, Noah, "A Computational Model of Memetic Evolution: Optimizing Collective Intelligence" (2014). All Dissertations. 1383. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1383 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF MEMETIC EVOLUTION: OPTIMIZING COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctorate of Philosophy Educational Leadership by Noah H. Welsh May 2014 Accepted by: Russ Marion, Committee Co-Chair Joshua Summers, Committee Co-Chair Leslie Gonzales Jon Christiansen ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to create an adaptive agent based simulation modeling the processes of creative collaboration. This model aided in the development of a new evolutionary based framework through which education scholars, academics, and professionals in all disciplines and industries can work to optimize their ability to find creative solutions to complex problems. The basic premise follows that the process of idea exchange, parallels the role sexual reproduction in biological evolution and is essential to society’s collective ability to solve complex problems. The study outlined a set of assumptions used to develop a new theory of collective intelligence.
    [Show full text]
  • A Historical Database of Sociocultural Evolution
    Cliodynamics: The Journal of Theoretical and Mathematical History UC Riverside Peer Reviewed Title: A Historical Database of Sociocultural Evolution Journal Issue: Cliodynamics, 3(2) Author: Turchin, Peter, University of Connecticut Whitehouse, Harvey Francois, Pieter Slingerland, Edward Collard, Mark Publication Date: 2012 Publication Info: Cliodynamics, The Institute for Research on World-Systems, UC Riverside Permalink: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2v8119hf Acknowledgements: This research was supported by grants from the Evolution Institute (PT), from UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (HW, PT, and PF), and from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (ES and MC). We thank David Sloan Wilson, Douglas White, J.G. Manning, Joseph Henrich, Ara Norenzayan, Metin Cosgel, and Garrett Fagan for extensive discussions and comments on database design. Local Identifier: irows_cliodynamics_15770 Abstract: The origin of human ultrasociality—the ability to cooperate in huge groups of genetically unrelated individuals—has long interested evolutionary and social theorists, but there has been little systematic empirical research on the topic. The Historical Database of Sociocultural Evolution, which we introduce in this article, brings the available historical and archaeological data together in a way that will allow hypotheses concerning the origin of ultrasociality to be tested rigorously. In addition to describing the methodology informing the set-up of the database, our article introduces four hypotheses that we intend to test using the database. These hypotheses focus on the resource base, warfare, ritual, and religion, respectively. Ultimately the aim of our database is to eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction One of the Earliest and Most Influential Papers Applying Darwinian Theory to Human Cultural Evolution Was Donald T
    Evolution: The Darwinian Theory of Social Change, An Homage to Donald T. Campbell Peter J. Richerson University of California Davis Robert Boyd University of California Los Angeles Draft 2.2 Jan 2000 Ó Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd Published in Paradigms of Social Change: Modernization, Development, Transformation, Evolution, Edited by W. Schelkle, W.-H. Krauth, M. Kohli, and G. Ewarts. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 2000. Introduction One of the earliest and most influential papers applying Darwinian theory to human cultural evolution was Donald T. Campbell’s paper “Variation and Selective Retention in Sociocultural Systems.” Campbell’s programmatic essay appeared as a chapter in a book entitled Social Change in Developing Areas (Barringer et al., 1965). It sketched a very ambitious project to apply Darwinian principles to the study of the evolution of human behavior. His essential theses were four. First, human sociocultural evolution should be studied using Darwinian methods. Human culture is information transmitted from person to person via teaching and imitation, much as genes are information transmitted from person to person in the course of reproduction. Like genes, sociocultural evolution has a pattern of descent with modification. Of course, the evolution of culture and social institutions differs in many ways from the evolution of genes. Perhaps most important, culture is a system for the inheritance of acquired variation. What individuals learn for themselves by hard effort others often imitate, typically at much less cost. Several researchers, beginning with Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman’s (1973) pioneering paper, have followed up this thread of Campbell’s essay by developing formal models of the cultural evolutionary processes.
    [Show full text]
  • A Politico-Ecological Approach of Transitional Spaces in Social Ecological Systems
    A Politico-Ecological Approach of Transitional Spaces in Social Ecological Systems Alfredo Lascoutx Ruiz Thesis submitted to the University of Ottawa in partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD degree in Philosophy School of Political Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa © Alfredo Lascoutx Ruiz, Ottawa, Canada, 2021 AUTHOR’S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A THESIS I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Dedication I dedicate this work to Roman, Bram, Aura Karina, Claudia, Manuel, Carlos Juan, Andres Miguel, Camilo, Naomi and Lenny To my family and friends, who have supported me emotionally and financially during the difficult years. My sons, Carlos Juan and Andres Miguel, always giving me motivation and practical assistance. This thesis would not have been possible without your love, support and constant patience. To my ancestors Rodriguez, who struggled along with me every night to obtain this doctorate. To the memory of my father Carlos Lascoutx, my mother Clara Ruiz, my aunt Maria Rios, and my uncle Miguel Ruiz, who always encouraged me to carry on with my studies. To my friends, Daniela Bettiol, Armando Aranguren, Manelly Vera, Gabriel Pilonieta, Luis Vizcaya, Ismael Santos, Lastenia Narvaez, Cesar Diaz, Isaac Nahon, Johan Hamels, Luis Barnola, Ginette Sharp, who have shown their love, friendship and solidarity in many different ways. I really thank you all. Y siempre a Dios y la Virgen que nunca me abandonan.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 SOCIAL SYSTEMS, THEIR OBSERVATION and DESCRIPTION Full Paper Nicholas Paritsis Laboratory of Cybernetics and Systems Behavior
    1 SOCIAL SYSTEMS, THEIR OBSERVATION AND DESCRIPTION Full paper Nicholas Paritsis Laboratory of Cybernetics and Systems Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Crete, Greece [email protected] For the Symposion on Sociocybernetics in European Systems Science Union (ESSU) 6th Congress INTRODUCTION Einstein (Einstein et al 1930) considered that to understand the cause’s one level of description is insufficient. Systemism being holism and individualism (Bunde 1996) makes system science to be at the same line. Paritsis and Stewart (1983) regarding the brain, namely that for the description of the brain processes concluded that it is better to make a description at the level of neurons, at the level of their relations and at the level of global properties of the neural network. Social constructionism presents an analogous view. In the sense that the perception and representation of a point of view rests upon the contribution of three levels that interact. The level of views of the person(s) in a socio-cultural system, the level of their communication (communicative relations) and the level of the culture itself Social costructionism (e.g. Berger and Luckmann 1966) is related to a certain extend, conceptually, to constructivist point of view that reality is constructed, that in turn is related with the autopoietic perception and epistemology (Maturana and Varela 1980). According to the last view the autopoietic systems -mainly the living systems- have the ability to maintain their characteristic structure and function independent from the different environments they may live. Thus, when the environment is perceived by a living system, a transformation takes place on the perceived environment.
    [Show full text]
  • Systems Theory"
    General By the same author: System Modern Theories of Development (in German, English, Spani~h) Nikolaus von Kues Theory Lebenswissenschaft und Bildung Theoretische Biologie J Foundations, Development, Applications Das Gefüge des Lebens Vom Molekül zur Organismenwelt Problems of Life (in German, English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese) Auf den Pfaden des Lebens I by Ludwig von Bertalanffy Biophysik des Fliessgleichgewichts t Robots, Men and Minds University of Alberta Edmonton) Canada GEORGE BRAZILLER New York MANIBUS Nicolai de Cusa Cardinalis, Gottfriedi Guglielmi Leibnitii, ]oannis Wolfgangi de Goethe Aldique Huxleyi, neenon de Bertalanffy Pauli, S.J., antecessoris, cosmographi Copyright © 1968 by Ludwig von Bertalanffy All rights in this hook are reserved. For information address the publisher, George Braziller, lnc. One Park Avenue New York, N.Y. 10016 Foreword The present volume appears to demand some introductory notes clarifying its scope, content, and method of presentation. There is a large number of texts, monographs, symposia, etc., devoted to "systems" and "systems theory". "Systems Science," or one of its many synonyms, is rapidly becoming part of the estab­ lished university curriculum. This is predominantly a develop­ ment in engineering science in the broad sense, necessitated by the complexity of "systems" in modern technology, man-machine relations, programming and similar considerations which were not felt in yesteryear's technology but which have become im­ perative in the complex technological and social structures of the modern world. Systems theory, in this sense, is preeminently a mathematica! field, offering partly novel and highly sophisti­ cated techniques, closely linked with computer science, and essentially determined by the requirement to cope with a new sort of problem that has been appearing.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origins of Social Evolution: Language and Institutional Evolution Submitted to Anthropos, 2021
    The Origins of Social Evolution: Language and Institutional Evolution Submitted to Anthropos, 2021 Prologue This study hypothesizes the emergence of social evolution in northeast Africa, about 70,000 years ago. In it, I advance a new view of social evolution, a topic that has been long discussed without any decisive advance. I rely on the prior efforts of psychologist Donald T. Campbell, who applied Darwinian insights to social evolution, and John Maynard Smith, who began to set the emergence of language in the long-term context of biological evolution. As I see it, the combined emergence of syntactic language and collaborative groups generated a process of systematic social change. Spoken language itself and its speaking community, as they solidified, became the first social institutions. The main point of the essay is a deductive theory that formalizes the emergence of language in a group of youths, tracing the “institutional evolution” of their community in a model inspired by Darwinian logic. This essay, in a slightly different form, has been submitted to the journal Anthropos. Essay This essay hypothesizes the emergence of new levels of human group behavior, some 70,000 years ago in northeast Africa. Syntactic language emerged as young people gathered to play collaboratively in deepening their communication. The results of their conscious innovations brought new types of communication, collaborative acts of representation, and formalization of their collective intentionality through ritual. The discourses and actions of group members created language itself and the community of speakers as the initial cases of social institutions. The same innovations launched processes of institutional replication for the benefit of later generations.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward a Theory of Positive Deviance
    University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 1985 TOWARD A THEORY OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE DRUANN MARIA HECKERT University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation HECKERT, DRUANN MARIA, "TOWARD A THEORY OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE" (1985). Doctoral Dissertations. 1450. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1450 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. i i 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed.
    [Show full text]
  • Society As a Complex Adaptive System
    59. Society as a CompIex Adaptive System WALTER DUCKLEY WE HAVE ARGUED at some length in another place1 istic is its functioning to maintain the given struc- that the mechanical equilibrium model and the ture of the system within pre-established limits. It organismic homeostasis models of society that involves feedback loops with its environment, and have underlain most modern sociological theory possibly information as well as pure energy inter- have outlived their usefulness. A more viable changes, but these are geared principally to self- model, one much more faithful to the kind of regubtion (structure maintenance) rather than adap- system that society is more and more recognized tation (change of system structure). The complex to k,is in process of developing out of, or is in adaptive systems {species, psychological and socio- keeping with, the modern systems perspective cultural systems) are also open and negentropic. (which we use loosely here to refer to general But they are oppn "internally" us well as externally systems research, cybernetics, information and in that the interchanges among their components communication theory, and related fields). Society, may result in significant changr.s in the nature of or the sociocultural system, is not, then, principally the components theinselves with important con- an equilibrium system or a homeostatic system, sequences for the system as a whole. And the but what we shalt simply refer to as a complex energy level that may be mobilized by the system adaptive system. is subject to relatively wide fluctuation. Internal To summarize the argument in ove~lysimplified as well as external interchanges are mediated form: Equilibria1 systems are relatively closed and characteristically by infirmation flows (via chemi- entropic.
    [Show full text]
  • Sociocultural Evolution 1 Sociocultural Evolution
    Sociocultural evolution 1 Sociocultural evolution Sociocultural evolution(ism) is an umbrella term for theories of cultural evolution and social evolution, describing how cultures and societies have changed over time. Note that "sociocultural evolution" is not an equivalent of "sociocultural development" (unified processes of differentiation and integration involving increases in sociocultural complexity), as sociocultural evolution also encompasses sociocultural transformations accompanied by decreases of complexity (degeneration) as well as ones not accompanied by any significant changes of sociocultural complexity (cladogenesis).[1] Thus, sociocultural evolution can be defined as "the process by which structural reorganization is affected through time, eventually producing a form or structure which is qualitatively different from the ancestral form.... Evolutionism then becomes the scientific activity of finding nomothetic explanations for the occurrence of such structural changes".[2] Although such theories typically provide models for understanding the relationship between technologies, social structure, the values of a society, and how and why they change with time, they vary as to the extent to which they describe specific mechanisms of variation and social change. Historically, Europeans had tried to explain the meaning of "primitive" societies, with some arguing that primitive peoples had degenerated from a "barbarous" to an even lower "savage" state. These observers often saw European society as symbolizing the highest state of "civilization."[3] Over time, important commentators like Edward Burnett Tylor, Lewis Henry Morgan, Franz Boas, Leslie White, and Julian Steward elaborated on this thinking with theories from unilinear evolution to the "culture history" approach.[3] Sociocultural modeling[4] is an umbrella term for theories of cultural and social evolution, which aims to describe how cultures and societies have developed over time.
    [Show full text]